I guess that is how I felt today, trying to balance online classes with my three-year-old, finishing up a video and getting ready for a music class tomorrow, trying to clean the house for visiting friends, and dressing for affiliation with Sigma Alpha Iota, the international music fraternity for women. And I guess that's when I realize that I am trying to fill the roles of several people - mom, wife, musician, teacher, friend, and I can't do it all, all of the time.
Some days I will fail, like today when I found my head almost literally spinning in circles. All that was missing was the pea soup.
I went to the Sigma Alpha Iota meeting exhausted, my eyes red from exhaustion after getting lost only ten minutes away from my house. Thank goodness for pizza delivery guys who help lost travelers find the elusive roads in one way street labyrinths! When I moved to Buffalo I was happy to find that there was a chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota in western New York.
There is something encouraging about being surrounded by a multi-generational group of women who have spend decades or over half a century pursuing music while delicately balancing family and work.
Sometimes I think we Gen X-ers and Millennials act as if the work/family balance is a new phenomenon, but listening to these women discuss how they balanced successful performance and academic careers while raising their own little broods gives a mother of a young one like myself some hope.
I came home from the Sigma Alpha Iota meeting refreshed, calmer, and ready to apologize to my spouse. I was greeted by a clean home, candlelight, and a slow dance with the love of my life.
Sometimes in trying to do it all we forget one thing: We don't have to do it all alone.
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